A Little Piece of Heaven

Matt held me back. "Liss!" he shouted as I fought against him. "Lissa! Stop!"

Naomi stepped in front of Brian, who was holding his head and attempting to stand up straight. I clenched my teeth together. I could have killed him right there if no one had been around. But Matt was restraining me, and Naomi was blocking me. Neither was to my advantage, but Zacky turned to Brian.

"Dude, what the fuck is your problem?" he yelled. "What's gotten into you lately?"

"I- I don't know!" replied Brian. "I really don't know, but I'm sorry."

He looked me in the eyes, his own filling with regret. I suppressed my rage and approached him. He braced himself for another swing, but instead I bent down and kissed him. He looked at me like he was confused.

"I really am sorry," he said quietly. "I don't know why I did it, but I have no explanation. I'm sorry."

I looked around at the group. The doorbell rang, and Johnny cursed under his breath. "It's open!" he shouted. A second later, the door opened and Jerry, Tobin, and Tony, all of Papa Roach, walked in.

"Did we leave a singer here?" asked Jerry.

Jacoby stood. "Liss- play nice with my Avenged boys. Don't fuck 'em too hard."

I halfheartedly laughed and said, "Bye Coby."

"Whoa! Syn, what happened to your face?" said Tony.

Brian pointed at me.

"You did this? To him? Jesus, Mary, and Joseph." Tony rolled his eyes. I smiled lightly.

"Take care, guys!" Zacky shouted as they left.

Jacoby turned to Naomi and made a heart out of his hands. She blushed and giggled. Jimmy looked at Naomi and grinned.

"Baby girl, let's go downstairs," he cackled. "You can show me what Coby was teaching you over there on the dancefloor."

They left, and it got awkwardly silent again. I asked for some alone time with Brian, and I was granted my wish. Val and Josh went home while Matt, Zacky, and Johnny went upstairs to move furniture back into Johnny's room. I sighed deeply and sat down next to Brian. He looked at me in anticipation.

"I don't believe you," I said. "You must have been thinking something while you were spilling your guts. Why?"

"I don't know how many times I can say I'm sorry to you before you'll believe me," said Brian.

"You embarrassed me in front of half of Hollywood. Don't you get it? Now everyone thinks I'm just your personal whore. And while that may be true, they don't need to know it!"

He looked up at me. It was clear he had nothing to say. So I continued.

"Look, I know we aren't an official couple, and we never have been. But if you didn't want me for anything but sex, then why did you keep me around?"

"I'm usually not like this with women," sighed Brian. "I don't know why you're different than the others, but you are. You're more beautiful, and smart, and you weren't in it for the money. You loved Avenged Sevenfold before you loved any of us. And honestly, I don't know what comes over me half the time. But I was a bit tipsy tonight. Not that I'm blaming the drinks, but it might play a part. I'm sorry."

I took a deep breath. "I don't know why it hurt so much to know you didn't love me. I don't love you, so it's not like it's a big deal. But I can't do this anymore, alright? I can't be mainly yours. I'll still be here when you want me, but..."

I trailed off. He knew where this was going anyway.

"Don't be there when I want you. Be there when I need you," he said. "And I deserved to be punched. No hard feelings." He stood. I also stood up, but he stopped me.

He wrapped one arm around my waist, and he brought the other hand on the back of my head in my hair. He brought his lips down to mine, and we kissed differently than we ever had before. It was passionate, not sexual. I put my hands on either side of his face, and let the moment happen. Maybe I was wrong to let him do it, but hadn't I just said I'd be here when he wanted me?

We fell down onto the couch, our limbs tangled in each other. You sneaky devil, I thought as Brian pulled at the waistline of my jeans.